I have a small Jersey heifer that just calved. Her back teats are large and full and producing milk, but her front two teats are not. They are full at the base as if they were starting to get full but didn't. I tugged on them and nothing came out, they are red or swollen or feverish and no injury seems to have happened. I have had her since she was a couple of weeks old and never saw suckling on her by other calves. She had a heifer calf less than 24 hours ago and has a very large udder and the back teats are producing just fine. Any ideas on whats going on here?
Front teats not full?
- Thread starter lms0229
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wbvs58
Well-known member
Are you sure the calf is not suckling on the front ones and hasn't had the need to go onto the back ones yet hence they appear full of milk.
Ken
Ken
Hi Ken,
I'm not 100% but I am pretty certain. Its really odd because I would suspect blind quarters the way it sorta is but there is no apparent reason. I only see the calf drinking from the back teats but I have seen the calf attempt the front and then quickly move to the back. I saw the the cow right before she had her calf and her front teats still didn't look full. The base of the teats are full, but not the teats themselves.
I'm not 100% but I am pretty certain. Its really odd because I would suspect blind quarters the way it sorta is but there is no apparent reason. I only see the calf drinking from the back teats but I have seen the calf attempt the front and then quickly move to the back. I saw the the cow right before she had her calf and her front teats still didn't look full. The base of the teats are full, but not the teats themselves.
regolith
Well-known member
So the quarters are full but the teats are not? It does sound like they're blind which likely means blocked... scar tissue. Now anyone who's anyone will tell you if heifer calves suck on each other that can happen, but it's pretty rare if it does & I've never heard of *2* quarters on one heifer calving in blind.
If there's mastitis clots or a 'pea' in there blocking flow you can often feel it from the outside of the teat. That's removeable, though it might take a bit of work, and doesn't usually cause the 'slack teat' effect.
If there's mastitis clots or a 'pea' in there blocking flow you can often feel it from the outside of the teat. That's removeable, though it might take a bit of work, and doesn't usually cause the 'slack teat' effect.
Regolith- I thought blind teats as well, but it doesn't make sense, because I have had her as a bottle calf very early on and she was never sucked on by other calves. She has never had any issues or signs of issues with her teats. Had my local Vet do a full examination with updated shots and all before she was ever AI'd. The front teats enlarged some as if filling but never like her back ones did. They never got tight. The base of the front teats is tight like her back ones just not the teats. Should I feel around for the pea sized thing and continue to try and milk those frontiers to see if there is some kind of blockage?
regolith
Well-known member
Quarters look full. If she's not too sore you can have a feel around the entire front quarter (check for hard lumps, or an area that is harder or hotter than the rest of the udder). If you do find a lump, massage down towards the teat. Either way, try and draw the milk into the teat from the base of the udder itself - the skin and all underneath it should feel smooth and silky, if it feels at this point as if there is grit/lumps/anything at all else in there, or if the teat itself feels like a hard rope running up it, there's a blockage not letting the milk down. It may or may not be removable with massage and milking.
Probably not. About the best-case scenario is that you're inexperienced enough (I wouldn't know) to have missed a mastitis infection and only have to get the clots broken up and coming through, anything that's been there for a long time probably isn't going to be removable without vet expertise.
Probably not. About the best-case scenario is that you're inexperienced enough (I wouldn't know) to have missed a mastitis infection and only have to get the clots broken up and coming through, anything that's been there for a long time probably isn't going to be removable without vet expertise.
Yeah I have had other dairy cattle and know how to tell with the various issues. I even do special hand mixed feedings based on their stage of pregnancy and make my own calcium and magnesium and other vitamin mix for right before and after calving to prevent further issues. I took a much harder look and I am not seeing teat openings. I never thought to check as her teats look fully developed and she has never had malformed or extra teats. It like everything is there except an opening. That's probably why the dairy farmer got rid of her as a calf because she doesn't really have any other problems like edema or high scs counts. I assumed because she was on the smaller side that it was the reasoning for getting rid of her. Its so odd. When my vet gets back into town I plan on calling him to inquire because I have never seen what appears to be fully developed teats without openings. Baby heifer doesn't appear to have any issues with hers from what I can tell...though she is solid red with blue eyes! I'm sure the eyes will change but wow its crazy to see.
wbvs58
Well-known member
It doesn't look like the problem is the opening of the teat but as Regolith suggested at the base of the teat. If it was just the teat opening I would expect the teat to be more distended rather than that shrivelled up appearance.
Ken
Ken
thanks for the advice everyone! I did feel around and I didn't feel anything hot, lumpy or gritty on any part of the udder. I spent 20 or more minutes checking her udder for redness or hot or hard spots but nothing. I still went ahead and massaged her udder toward the teats. Plan on continuing to do it in small doses over the next few days to see if something changes. The teats are a little larger than they were before her milk udder development but not anything like the back ones. They don't seem to be sore to her and she doesn't seem to be bothered or sore when I massage her udder.
Update: I massaged her udder more today and still did not feel anything weird, but I did get a few drops out of one teat! The teat still is not full looking though and after getting a couple of drops out of one nothing more came out even after working it for awhile. I will continue to update. Thanks
